You say of a new CD of Shostakovich's 5th symphony that it is "A thrilling performance, but a very short run time." But Michael Cookson doesn't say a word about the run time in his splendid review. Some of us, if not most of us, would like to have a splendid performance all by itself on a CD, rather than a filler which may or may not be splendid.

Thank you very much indeed for your interest in my review of Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 under Krzysztof Urbański. I really rate this performance and wrote, “This is a thrilling performance of both physical impact and deep emotional intensity.”

Like yourself the short runtime on a CD is certainly not an issue with me if the performance is high quality which I believe this is. That’s why I didn’t specifically mention it in my review. If the runtime or lack of a filler on any CD was an issue with me I would mention it, as I sometimes do. Of course, the run time of every work is stated on the heading of every published review.

The headline you refer to “A thrilling performance, but a very short run time” is the editor’s comment. I have no say over this editorial overview which is given in good faith and is merely an opinion.